Last night, I was watching Monk with Lil D. (That’s about the only TV viewing I do nowadays!)

There was a scene where Monk makes a 911 call. The emergency worker who answers the call has a few lines to say, and a few minutes of screen time.

Much later, for some reason, I began thinking about her. I wondered how many years she’d been working in showbiz, trying for show after show. Imagining her joy when she found out she’d been selected for Monk! The anxiety with which she must have practiced her lines and trembled with nervousness when it was her time before the camera. The reaching out to all friends and family when the show aired. Watching as she came on, wishing she could have done something a little different. The accolades showered on her later, the prophecies that she was now one step closer to stardom. And then – oblivion.

OK, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that.

It struck me that on the grand stage of life, we are all just extras, basking in our own spotlight for a few minutes. I guess there are really very few people who can be called the main characters. Maybe those who influence and affect the world at large. Even those giants we look up to — so many of them were recognized only after they were long gone.

I don’t really mind being an extra. As long as I say my lines the very best I can, I guess it’s all ok.